A Number is Just a Number!

I rarely post my progress updates, but my hobby is to compete in the Figure division of bodybuilding with the NPC. I’m heading in to my 3rd season and will compete again locally in Indy in late August and then at Nationals, the North Americans, in early September.

For those of us in the sport, this is our lifestyle. We work 365 days a year and have 6 to 12-month long building seasons where we put on muscle and fat and then cutting seasons to take off the fat and hope to salvage the new gains.

Would you believe there are 20 pounds of difference in these two pictures? The posing and lighting is different, but the right is me today after my 7-month long building season and 5 weeks in to my contest prep.

Down from a high of 153, today I am 16 weeks out from my next show and currently dieting down. My hope is to go no lower than 135 so I can keep my size. It would be easy to fret over 20+ pounds, but when you are involving muscle, a number is just a number. A pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat, but muscle is more compact, so it will wear much differently on your body than fat does.

My message is two-fold:

Don’t curse the scale. It is a number. I’m now at a mindset where I *want* it to stay higher so I can be fuller and more competitive on stage. Healthy, strong, full bodies win, not scale weight or body fat percentages. Less is not always more!

Work your plan ongoing and never compare yourself to anyone but you! I’ve been at this consistently {progress, not perfection} since October 2009. It’s a lifestyle, not a quick fix or on/off event.

Find a system and lifestyle you love and study it. Rock it day in and day out by learning your body with sleep, activity, balanced food choices, and hydration. Love the skin you’re in and you do you!

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